Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1887-06-03


desire to offer for sale, through the ad
vertisng columns of your magazine, writes
Bill Nye 10 the Northwestern Miller, the
large and prolific wheat growing lands con
nected with my estates. My object in sell
ing these lands is TO get them into the hands
Of some one who has more means than |
have. The lands are in high state of cul-
tivation, but in order to get the best results
more machinery is needed next year than
feel like purchasing. We need two new
sulky-plows on the place, two seeders,
new tanning mill, a thresher with traction
engine, three reapers with binders, a cut
worm eradicator, curculio buster,
squash bug arrestor, a Hcssian fly detector,
a chinch- bug crusher, a potato bug assassi-
nator and IA steam gopher stabber When
! started in to farm ! sowed sixty acres to
wheat ten acres to oats, and planted some
vegetables Joint-worms took the grain,
cabbage-worms paralyzed the kraut or
chard, cut-worms took the tomatoes and
melons, apple worms devoured my choice
Siberian crab apples, and tape-worm car
ried off my hired man. l then began to
see "why our boys leave the farm" They
do it to save their lives. l next resolved
to abandon the vegetables and devote my
valuable space to grain.
bought new team, one member of
which was "cribber," while the other had
the 'thumps" Before that did not know
that "thumps' was a contagious disease
outside of the prize ring. That fall l had
2j0 bushels of No. wheat, worth AZ cents
in Minneapolis, COW that had hollow-horn
so that had to be up half the night with
her, a horse that had the thumps so that he
couldn't take a long breath, and a cribber
that would catch hold of hitching post
and suck in so much atmosphere that every
body in our county gasped for breath. l
said to myself, ''This is the reason that boys
leave the farm and go away to a business
college, where they learn to make penman-
ship birds and capitals with side-whiskers
on them
The past season decided to grow wheat
on my estate. In June the crop looked
well, but in July, while was engaged one
day in sharing gophers with pickerel line,
| discovered several small dappled bugs,
about three-twentieths of an inch in length,
playing 81 spy" in the wheat. They had a
peculiar aroma which they carried with
them to shed in case they got stepped on. |
carried few of these bugs to a friend of
mine who had been in the farming business
all his life, and asked him what they were.
He said they were chinch- bugs, and that
| by -and-by there would be more of them.
He was right Every little while female
nch-bug would come cacklng off the
nest, and you could find 800 eggs there as
soon as she went away. If | watched her
carefully with glass, | noticed that she
would wander about few minutes then
suddenly she would 20 back to the nest
where she would lay 500 more eggs In
this way it did not take long to accumulate
enough chinch-hugs SO that | could supply
those who had been less fortunate. So
told the other farmers that they could com,
over any time and help themselves l al
lowed them to take the young bugs, or egg,
enough to set their own bugs, Just as they
thought best.
In July the chinch-bugs were all thrifty
and the wheat was all ripe. 1t was to,
early to thrash, so ! stacked my wheat. L
rained last week with great severity. Yes
terday went out to see my stacks. l cai
do most any other manual work, but an
not "a good stacker. The man who examn
ed the stacks said he was surprised that an,
rain fell elsewhere. 1t looked to him a
though these stacks had gone over tn,
Northwest and secured all there was. Blu
he consoled me good deal, after ALL HI
said it was really no loss, for the grain it
self was nothing but straw with it'll
dash of bran in it. My wheat lands ar
now for sale. | could farm them myself i
l felt able, but man must, in order t
farm them successfully, have an incom
from other sources. In order to succeed il
farming, "A young man should marry ricl
and play good game of poker.